Wooded plot help needed
- Thread starter j-bird
- Start date
Someday isle
5 year old buck +
Thanks for sharing j-bird. I’ll be going out to mow my campground on Thursday or Friday and then I’m taking a friend and his sons out to look around. His young son just started hunting last year so he’s coming out just to keep his son motivated and interested in deer habitat. Saturday will be two weeks since I planted my buckwheat. We’ve had good rain and warm weather so hopefully I have plenty of buckwheat and not many weeds.
j-bird
Moderator
I may look into buckwheat as well or something to keep weeds to a minimum after I nuke the plot and then try seeding again at the end of summer.
Someday isle
5 year old buck +
J-bird, as promised here are my pictures of Buckwheat seeded into both my new wooded plot from this year and the 1/3 of an acre plot that I started last year. The new plot is 1/4 acre and was just a wooded area when I started. The other one was a newly cleared area from last fall. It was seeded in an lc mix last year and I just disced the standing rye and threw down the buckwheat. Some of the rye grew back and lived through the discing but the buckwheat has taken a nice hold in both places. I seeded the buckwheat two weeks ago tomorrow.
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mjones101604
Yearling... With promise
I have carved plots out of hallow pastures and corners of crop fields before. This year is my first real shot at putting one in a the woods. The opening I have is fine, my concern is I have already broadcast my clover and chicory seed after I burned the area off earlier in the year. However.....mother nature is tenacious!
Burned plot to remove all leaf littler and small limbs and the like and to get to as much bare dirt as possible.
I broadcast a pound of ladino white clover and 4 pounds of forage chicory.
A few weeks ago (4/22) things started to green up:
Yesterday (5/6) things had a lot more green.....but not the green I was looking for.
I had hoped that the seed would germinate and get ahead of what mother nature would provide....but obviously I was wrong. I don't have much experience with natural vegetative woodland plants so I am not sure what to expect of these......
Currently there seems to be little if any signs of the seed I planted.....so my question is simple....
Do I spray the plot with gly to kill everything and see what of my seed may still come up? OR do I wait it out and see if my seed will fight it's way through? OR do I simply scalp the crap out of what is there with a mower/weed-eater and see what happens?
I figured some of you with far more exp than I with woodland plots may be able to offer up some advice.
I have done 2 woods plots that all came up like that. It tough to beat out nature especially in the woods. This years came up good but I just sprayed today and will have to mow next week. If it’s bad enough I would kill it all and reseed in August by then most of the weeds will be done growing. Might throw in some cereal rye to then you can have more competition for the weeds next spring
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birdog
5 year old buck +
I am no expert but I have had good luck with spraying then broadcasting. If you disc you will have much better luck with waiting for all the seed you brought to the surface to germinate then hit the new growth with gly. If you have the time and patience then hit it again with gly before seeding. J bird it looks like you burned and then planted?
If I were you I would mow the plot to help control your broadleaf problem. I had a plot that I spring planted a few years ago and I thought it was a total loss, looked just like yours. I mowed it early summer and again in late August hours before a hard rain and the plot took off. A final late summer mowing will release your clover and chicory and I think you might be surprised. I would throw some rye in there as well and frost seed next year if you think you need it. Next spring the rye will serve as your cover crop and knock those weeds back. Next year it will really take off.
If you still decide to nuke the plot do what others have suggested and broadcast some buckwheat and or a cereal grain in your plot.
My .02 cents for what it's worth.
If I were you I would mow the plot to help control your broadleaf problem. I had a plot that I spring planted a few years ago and I thought it was a total loss, looked just like yours. I mowed it early summer and again in late August hours before a hard rain and the plot took off. A final late summer mowing will release your clover and chicory and I think you might be surprised. I would throw some rye in there as well and frost seed next year if you think you need it. Next spring the rye will serve as your cover crop and knock those weeds back. Next year it will really take off.
If you still decide to nuke the plot do what others have suggested and broadcast some buckwheat and or a cereal grain in your plot.
My .02 cents for what it's worth.
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4wanderingeyes
5 year old buck +
I am with Birdog, mow it and give it a few weeks and see what grows.
j-bird
Moderator
Been nuked already. If there is signs of anything of interest in a week or two then maybe.....if not I will nuke it again and prep for a summer cover crop or a fall planting.
nwmn
5 year old buck +
I'd probably let it sit the rest of summer and keep spraying until about mid-late July then disk and spread winter rye/chicory/clover into that? Good luck, crazy what comes back after a burn!! I tried my luck with increase in chicory plantings as well, as I heard the deer hammer it in October.
bbcoach
5 year old buck +
Jbird many people have done what you are doing, try to start a plot in the woods in the spring. I'll say this as politely as I can, Don't. When you do this, as you have found out, mother nature will beat you 99 out of 100 times. Most of the time weeds and grasses will outcompete whatever you plant due to low ph soil and soil with years of weed seeds banked. The best thing to do is take a soil sample and get the ph to 6.5. Spray the entire area with glyphosate to kill all vegetation and wait until fall. If you do plant then buckwheat would be the best option. Buckwheat will grow quick and give you added organic matter for your fall plantings. Clover and chicory will do well planted in the fall. Just saying. I've tried the spring planting thing and found out the hard way, Don't.
Someday isle
5 year old buck +
J-bird, just following up on my previous posts. I’d still consider buckwheat if you want to plant something. This plot is four weeks old today and it’s just starting to flower. There are a few weeds and some stump sprouts but the buckwheat has shaded out most everything else. My plan is to spread more buckwheat seed the first weekend in July and mow this crop down on top of it.
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j-bird
Moderator
Well I had to stay away from this area as i had a nested turkey but was able to get up there this weekend and this is what I found. I got a few places I need to get some more light, but I'm fairly happy thus far. As long as we keep getting rain I should be OK. Not sure it will be ready to hunt this year, but should be awesome next year for sure. Lots and lots of chicory......just like I wanted!
